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Accessing the internet with a smartphone or tablet still feels
like a novelty to some people, but the tech world is already
moving forward on the next wave of innovation
networked devices, largely focused on freeing up users' hands. A
new technology
cycle characterized by "wearables, drivables, flyables and
scannables" is coming on earlier than expected and already
showing signs of growth, internet analyst Mary Meeker says in the
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers 2013 Internet Trends report.

In the report, which was published yesterday, Meeker said the
average smartphone user checks his or her device 150 times per
day, a task that wearable tech can help users avoid. While Google
Glass has been called a geeky novelty by some, Meeker believes
hands free technology has staying power. In addition to Google,
Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are all said to be developing
wearable tech devices.

Networked, sensor-enabled, wearable devices such as a watch,
bracelet or pair of glasses have the potential to allow users to
make calls, send a message, use GPS or simply check the time
without having to put down what they're doing. These changes can
create new opportunities for businesses to integrate their
message into users' daily lives, and challenge companies to
develop inventive ways to get customers' attention as they spend
more time using voice and sensor controls and less time staring
at a screen.

Wearable tech wasn't the only thing on Meeker's radar. Here are
some other notable observations from the report:

Mobile traffic is growing fast. In just the past
year the number of users who rely on mobile devices to get online
increased by 30 percent to more than 1.5 billion subscribers
worldwide. Those customers account for 15 percent of all internet
traffic and create significant opportunities for advertisers, the
report says. In China and South Korea, for instance, internet
traffic from mobile devices has already surpassed traffic from
PCs.

Sharing is infectious and addictive. Internet
users are sharing information in the form of photos and videos,
and increasingly, sound and data -- at exponential rates. This
year, users have already uploaded almost 550 million photos to
services like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat compared to just
about 350 million for all of 2012. Users upload an average of 100
hours of video to YouTube and 11 hours of audio to SoundCloud
every minute.

Americans aren't the biggest over-sharers
online. When it comes to sharing every detail about
one's work and life online, Americans don't even crack the top
10, the report says. When asked if they share "everything" or
"most things" online, only 15 percent of people in the U.S.
indicated yes. In contrast, more than 60 percent of Saudi
Arabians answered yes followed by Indians and Indonesians, about
half of whom also answered yes.

If Meeker's data makes one thing clear it's that the internet
offers a smorgasbord of opportunities to capitalize on in
well-established and emerging markets that can shape the way
share and connect well into the next decade.